Airel by Aaron Patterson, C.P. White Read Free Book Online

Michael.”
    “No problem.” He slipped out and James followed.. 
    “They went for a junk food run,” I whispered to Kim
    “Good, I’m starved.” Then she changed gears again, almost giving me whiplash. “So. I see you and Michael are getting friendly…” She had a glint of sarcasm in her voice. 
    “He’s nice, but he’s a little out of my league, if you know what I mean.” I didn’t dare even think about anything more with Michael other than friendship...  even with the handholding. It could have been a fluke. Or maybe I’m being neurotic.  
    If there’s one thing I’d learned about guys, it was that they can hurt. I was going to be as cautious as possible about all of this. Michael was friendly with everyone, anyway, and I had no reason to believe he was seriously considering me as one of his many, many options.
    “Come on, he likes you. Anyone can see that. Don’t worry about anything, just leave it to me.” I gave her that don’t even think about it look and hit her in the arm. “Ow, so mean!”
    “Ha! You deserved it. Now don’t try anything or I’ll tell James you’re a stalker.”
    “So? I am.” Kim laughed, adjusting her purse. She flipped out her phone and left a movie theater check-in on Facebook, moving quickly on to Twitter. I guess a girl’s got to stay in touch with her peeps, but Kim was a little overboard. I was on Facebook too, but that was only because Kim had set it up for me. If I didn’t get on it often enough, she would hack in and post stuff on my behalf—just another reason why I could never lose her.
    Michael came back up the stairs and slid in next to me. He handed me a large soda and smiled. “Big enough for ya?”
    “Yeah, ya think? Holy BUCKET.” I giggled like an idiot and turned my face away . What was this guy doing to me? “Where’s James?”
    “He had to go to the bathroom. He should be back soon. Unless he’s running scared from … ahem…” He pointed with his thumb over to Kim who was busy checking her reflection on her phone.
    “Ha, she would find him,” I whispered in his ear. I could smell his shampoo and feel the warmth of his skin next to mine. His arm brushed mine and I almost embarrassed myself by screaming. It probably would have come out really weak, given the heart palpitations I was having to deal with.
    James came back a few minutes later and took a handful of popcorn. Sheesh, help yourself, pal. The movie started and I scrunched down in my seat, wondering what I was doing. Was I a glutton for pain? Did I just like to have my heart broken? Just the thought of… 
    My thoughts were instantly cut off by something I had never felt before. It was like a splitting headache in the back of my skull. Everything went fuzzy. I closed my eyes and tried to focus and for the second time today, I felt like throwing up. This time it was not as strong, though. I controlled my lunch, breathed in deep three times, then opened my eyes.
    The people in front of us, all the way down to the front row, were all a blur—all but two, who sat in the second row. It was a tall man with short blond hair and a shorter man with a ball cap on. They were talking and from where I was sitting, I could tell they were not happy.
    The tall blond man leaned over and whispered something to the ball cap man and he stiffened. I had a bad feeling that something was going to happen, but I wasn’t sure. What are they talking about?  
    Then I saw it. The glint of a blade, catching the light from the movie screen, appearing from the blond man’s coat. I saw his arm wrap around the ball cap man’s shoulder, reaching around to cover his mouth.
    I tried to yell, but nothing came out. I just opened and closed my mouth like a fish. There was no way this was real. Everyone else seemed not to notice the two men, but I could feel what happened.
    The tall man jerked his arm, making the ball cap man’s body twitch crookedly. A second time he thrust the knife in and after a few more